Death Game: Labyrinth
by Arctic42
Summary: Bewildered, Mark Ryuzaki, is a normal boy, who finds himself in a game called the Death Game. He's put inside a Labyrinth that morphs and changes, while he tries to find out how to escape. "Suspenseful and ongoing action, that keeps readers wanting more."
1. New Haven

**First of all, this has nothing to do with Twilight, I just needed a category.**

I woke up with a start, sitting on my bed, with the alarm clock ringing in the distance.

I glanced over.

Seven-oh-one.

It was a Thursday, so I had school.

I went to St. Rita Middle School, and I lived in New Haven, Connecticut.

My name, Mark Ryuzaki, fourteen-year-old kid, who has so far lead a normal life… so far.

I slid out of bed, still in my black-and-white pajamas, to hear my mom's voice.

"Mark! Hurry up! You'll be late for school!"

"I'm coming, mom," I replied, shuffling down the stairs.

Once I reached the bottom, I slid into the kitchen on my socks.

As I grabbed a chair, my mom leaned over and told me, "Mark, you have mail."

I looked at her. "Huh? I never get mail."

I shrugged, "What is it, a package?"

"No, it's just a card. You'll see. I didn't open it either," then she walked off, leaving some pop-tarts on the table.

I picked them up, as I ran over to grab my book-bag.

Then I slung it over my shoulder, took a bite of my pop-tart, and walked towards the door.

Sure enough, there was a little envelope.

I tore it open, and pulled out a little black and silver card, with little silver print on it.

I stepped out the door with a quick, "Bye mom," and I was on my way.

I walked over and grabbed my dark-blue bike and hopped on it.

I had to bike, because my mother had one of those at-home-college courses, you know, and she had to stay home all day.

As I slid smoothly along the sidewalk, I passed the St. Rita school bus, and I glanced my unruly black hair, pulled back my the wind.

I dropped the pop-tarts into the trash as I kept riding.

Before I opened the card, I checked my watch.

Seven-forty-six.

Then I pulled the card out of my pocket.

Oops.

While I wasn't paying attention, the bus took a sharp turn on the road towards my school, and almost hot me, except I swerved out of the way, just in time.

In the end, I was just on pace again… except I dropped the card.

I turned around quickly, scanning for the dark note on the lush green grass next to the sidewalk.

There.

I jumped off the bike and ran towards it.

When I was about halfway, I heard a bark.

A dog.

My luck. Ha.

The _humongous _dog darted towards me, hate in it's eyes.

But I needed that card.

I was too fast for it.

As it came at me, I did something I didn't think I could do.

I leapt into the air, planted my right foot on top of the dog's head, then pushed off.

When I landed, I stuck on my left foot, a foot or so on the other side of the card, and I pushed off, darting over, and grabbing, the card, running past the confused dog, and to my bike.

I easily slid onto it and then I was off.

Whew.

"That was too close," I muttered to no one in particular.

After about twenty minutes -it's now eight-ten- I arrived at my school.

The unread letter in my jacket pocket.

I stuck my bike into it's bike-rack, and walked over to the middle school hall.

Most of the people were already in class, but a few were still outside.

I leaned against the wall and pulled the card of my pocket, and unfolded it. It began:

**_Mr. Ryuzaki,_**

**_Welcome to the Death Games..._**


	2. The Beginning

"…to the Death Game. Once you opened this envelope, you automatically signed yourself in for this game. Any deaths will not be held accountable against us." I glanced up at the clock, noticing I had forgotten about class.

Oh well.

What was this Death Game?

I decided, even though it totally went against my heart, my mind, and my… everything's will, to keep reading.

So I looked down at it and continued, "…The current game for Round One is… Labyrinth. To enter the game, meet our associate at the corner of Ridge Rd., at three-thirty. I hope you enjoy."

I could picture whoever wrote this, smirking as the finished, enjoying the fact that I was probably about to wet my pants.

Guess what? I was.

...Wait, who did write this…

I skimmed across the letter, and I didn't see it at first, but it was there, a cursive little signature that said: Ray.

Ray…?

Nothing else.

Just Ray.

I was guessing this "Ray" person controlled the "Death Games."

Or maybe "Ray" was just a low-ranked "card maker."

I didn't really freakin' care.

I just didn't want to enter any thing with the word "Death."

But… I decided, I'd better get on to class, before I get expelled or something.

I mean, when you think about entering a Game of Death, and still worrying about Algebra, it seems kind of lame.

But, seeing my teacher, I wouldn't be surprised if she ran the games.

So, I headed into the hallway, stuffing the card into my pocket.

* * *

Three-eighteen.

Time to get the heck over the corner of whatever-street, and meet these people.

Yeah.

So, I ran out of my last classroom and over towards my bike.

When I got there, I jumped on and began riding off and onto the side walk.

This sidewalk led straight down, from St. Rita, and jerks to the left, then straight to Ridge Rd.

I glided smoothly along.

Left.

Right.

Here, Ridge Rd.

I figured by the corner he meant over there, so I picked up the pace at darted towards the far end of the road.

I went past my cult sack.

Once I got there, I skidded by bike to a halt and leapt off.

In the distance, I heard some people talking, and I guess I was here looking for them, so I leaned my bike against a large oak tree, next to my book sack, and walked over towards the noise, letter in hand.

Then, as I stepped out from behind a tree, I saw them.

Two men wearing white and grey masks, strapped around their heads.

They seemed to be guarding some sort of archway, made of stone, I think.

It had plenty of Ivy, so it blended in with the rest of everything around it, but it seemed so different at the same time.

I walked forward, towards them.

Stupid, I know, but I did.

The second they spotted movement, they launched into full-on attack mode.

I barely had the time to brace myself.

The second they hit, it felt like timeless, million-pound stone, crashing against some feeble wod carving thing…

Guess which one I was?

I went straight to the ground, slamming into it.

Then, the guards let go of me and stood up and apologized…

Not really.

_Actually_ they grabbed a branch and swung my across the clearing and into a tree.

_Actually_, I think I broke a rib or two.

But, luckily, when I hit the tree, I dropped the card.

Oops.

They straightened up, and reached a hand out to me.

I didn't know whether to pull myself up, or put on one of those buzzer things that zaps them when they shake your hand.

Luckily, I chose the former, and I didn't get a couple more ribs snapped in half.

My adventure seems fun so far right?

Wrong.

It only gets more fun…

They grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to my feet.

"I am sorry. We did not know that you were a challenger. Please, place on the uniform, so you are not misrecognized," he picked up the card and slid it into his pocket, then he muttered something into a microphone, while his partner handed me a silver shirt, that looked like any normal, long-sleeved casual shirt, except in had a black star on the right side of the chest.

"You must wear this at all times, Challenger Silver."

The guy seemed all tense.

I shrugged, and took my brown shirt off, and replaced it with this one.

It matched my black and white pants, and my dark hair, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad.

I also folded the sleeves at my elbow.

My little touch.

Then, he lead me over to the archway.

The other guy that had taken my card was nowhere to be found.

I was about to know why.

Mr. Weird Robot Man took me too the arch, then said, "Mr. Ryuzaki, please enter the Arch."

I guessed he meant the stone archway, so I stepped into it, sand instantly everything changed.

I could hear whistling noises, and there was a instantaneous flash of light, then I was standing next to a tree…

Surrounded by people.

Literally, there was a giant stadium surrounding me, raised up on a high, black platform.

There were also certain people, dressed in fancy clothes, inside of the stadium.

Some people, dressed in fancy stuff, ran over to me and shook my hand.

"You are here, Challenger Silver! Finally," one of them muttered to me.

I just nodded, and pretend I wasn't as stupid as I really was.

Meanwhile, the crowd was going freaking nuts, cheering as I walked out towards the middle of the stadium, being lead by some people I still didn't know.

I just smiled and waved.

That is, until I saw an enormous firecracker shoot out above me, and I heard some voices yelling, "Let the games begin."

Obviously, the crowd kept cheering, and I was pushed towards an opening of the stadium.

I went easily, considering I knew this was the "Death Game."

But, when I exited the arena, I was in a stone and brick hallway.

It was totally out of place.

Then, the guards behind me pushed me forward and fled backwards, out of the corridor.

Yeah, I said _fled._ In fear too.

Unfortunately, that option wasn't for me, because the gateway shut closed, forcing me to go in the only direction possible.

Forward.

So, I walked forward, with lights on the roof above me.

I couldn't hear any sounds, so I figured I was alone.

Not.

At first, I just saw creepy yellow eyes in the distant shadow, then, I heard it.

Tapping noises.

I stood still.

I really didn't want to know what was tapping, but I was about to find out.

So I cautiously slid a torch out of one of the holders, just in case.

Bad move.

I signaled attack, and the spiders -Yeah, spiders- came charging at me.

They were gray, with yellow eyes, and fangs, that looked as if they could've belonged to a wolf... or a dragon.

So, I threw my torch at them, hoping to scare them away, and it worked, they hated fire.

They make a walkway where the torch slid across stone, and I ran through it.

It didn't last long, becase they could smell fear or something.

So I followed my gliding torch, through the waves of spiders, then I came to a point where the pathway split up.

My torch hit the dead middle and bounced back at me.

I picked it up, then chose the left tunnel, randomly.

As I ran, I swung the flaming branch at the oncoming bugs behind me, hoping to scare them away.

Fail.

Then I hit something.

It was the shape of a thick pole, it was hard and metal too.

If only I had known earlier that these were robot spiders... if only...

I looked up, and saw a giant black spider, looming ominously above me.

I even felt the drool drop from it's fangs and flood over my shoulder.

Once I got my wits back, I ran.

Not far though.

It wacked me into a wall with it's leg, then pinned me against it with it's other leg.

I felt as if my shoulder was burning from where I got whacked.

I couldn't see it though, because I was stuck to a wall.

Through total retaliation, I slammed my arm against the leg of the spider, that was holding me.

These spiders were flammable.

Because I had had the torch in my hand, so when it hit, the spider erupted in flames.

I had maybe five seconds before the rest of the spiders came, so I darted through the corridor.

There were no more candles, so I was in the dark.

After a few minutes of running I heard birds.

I hoped those birds were nice, but for some reason, I doubted it.

Then, unexpectedly, I slammed into a wall.

No, correction, a door.

I fell backwards against the floor, then I stood up again, recovering from the impact.

I felt around for the handle, and luckily, there it was.

I slid the door open and..

I was blinded by light!

Cautiously, I stepped out of the dark hallway, and, my eyes adapting to the light, I saw trees and everything.

It was still a pathway, walled by side-by-side connecting trees.

They were definetely walls, and I could never imagine climbing them.

I went over and sat against a tree, to rest.

I closed my eyes for a second to catch my breath, then when I opened them again, standing up...

_To be continued..._


	3. Challengers

A flash of pink came out of nowhere, and I felt a whack against my already hurt arm. -Remember the spiders-

It knocked me onto my stomach, but I did a somersault and I was on my feet again.

I stood up to see what hit me, and it was a girl.

She was maybe a year or so older than me, I'm guessing 15.

The girl was wearing a pink challenger shirt, so she wasn't some monster.

And she was holding the weapon in a bad battle stance, so I could guess she didn't fight much.

I reached over and picked up a long sturdy stick, and braced myself.

She ran at me, and swung the branch she had at me.

I knocked the stick from her hand, but when I decided to whack her, she side stepped and _decided_ to punch me in the face.

When I landed, I fell onto my back.

Then I swung my legs up, and it kicked her off balance, and when she fell over, I stood up.

I looked down at her, then I started to walk away.

But before i could get far, I heard her yell, "Hey! You can't just leave me here."

It made me turn around.

"Yes I can. I don't want to fight you."

She stood up, then walked over to me. "Good. I won't fight either."

"Umm. Cool," I said, then kept walking.

"Wait, we can't split up, if we do, then we'll get lost. It's best to stay together," she said, almost as if she had experience of this.

I looked back at her, "Okay then. I'm Mark."

"I'm Natalie," she said, "Challenger Pink."

"Silver."

So we began walking along paths, and every now and then, we'd decide on the right paths to take.

Natalie had dark brown hair, and brown eyes.

She wore the pink shirt of a Challenger, so she looked friendly enough.

We got to a three-way crossroad, four ways, if you count where we came from.

One way, to the left, lead down, into a thick forest of trees.

The second way, to the right, had too many spikes on the path to catch our interest.

The middle, straight ahead, way, lead up a simple slope.

So, obviously, we too the third option, but the second we walked onto that path, a metal gate shot up from the ground, blocking off the walk way.

Apparently we had to more forward only forward.

Again.

'Uh oh," Natalie said. "I guess we'd better see what's ahead."

"Yeah, but it probably won't be good, considering they don't _want_ us to leave," I answered.

She agreed, and we walked up the hill, but what we saw was almost as far from good as possible.

There was no more land, only where the pathway hit a cliff.

Maybe sixty yards across from the cliff we were on, was the other cliff.

The catch: There were floating circular disks of ground, hovering over the gorge.

Yes, floating.

I was guessing we had to jump from disk to disk until we got to the other side.

To make it worse, there was already a Challenger on the disks, and he didn't look peaceful.

He was a large, over-muscular, guy, wearing a green sleeveless Challenger shirt.

"And so we go," I sighed.

Natalie agreed, "Yep."

So, I jumped first, onto the disk closest to me, being the brave soul I was.

Then as I switched to another one, Natalie jumped onto the one I was on, moments ago.

It cointinued like that, for a couple minutes, until _he_ saw us.

I looked into Mr. Green's eyes.

They were fierce, and angry.

He looked like he was jumping for his life, which he undoubtedly was.

Me and Natalie jumped to another pair on disks, even closer to him.

Then the Green guy stopped, and reached down to grab a disk, and picked it up.

I instantly understood what he planned to do.

"Natalie, move!" Me and her both jumped in opposite directions as the disk soared through the air where we were moments ago.

We each landed on disks, not too far away from each other's.

The guy came me, holding a knife in his hand, that he had just recently drawn, leaping from disk to disk.

Once he got to a disk next to mine, he swung the knife at me, but I ducked.

Then he followed through with a knee to the face...

Except...

Out of nowhere, Natalie soared in, slamming him square in the face as he looked over at her, with her foot.

The hit sent him sprawling across a disk.

But that didn't stop him for long.

By now, we were almost to the edge.

He stood up, then leaped _onto_ my disk.

I was on the edge of it, so as he landed, directly on the center on the disk, I jumped up, placed my hands on his head, then flipped myself over, on the other side of the disk.

Oops.

I was too close to the edge, and it began crumbling.

I slipped and began falling into the gorge.

As I fell, I saw the disk he had thrown with such force, earlier, come soaring back to it's origional position.

It gave me an idea.

As I soared downward, hearing the yells of Natalie, "Mark! Mark," I caught onto the edge of one of the disks, that was father below the other ones, but it kept pulling me down.

I grinned.

All part of my plan.

I kept going down quickly, but soon I began to slow...

* * *

"Mark! No... not Mark," Natalie cried, as she gripped the edge of her platform, and looked down into the depths of the gorge.

There was no bottom.

He couldn't survive, she thought.

Not possible.

She looked up, and saw Mr. Green recovering from his stunned experience.

He shook his head, then looked over at her.

The guy ripped part of his disk out, making it unbalanced, but it didn't bother him.

He threw the piece of disk through the air at Natalie...

Or her disk.

It hit the edge of her disk, throwing it off balance, and she fell, hitting her head on another disk, which knocked her unconscious.

As she fell, something caught her and began dragging her upward.

I shot upwards, holding the scruff of Natalie's pink Challenger shirt, being propelled by the disk, that was returning to it's original place.

"Heh, perfect," I said.

The disk abruptly came to stop where it originally was, which flinged me into the air.

I soared up, and rammed into the unexpecting Challenger's back.

The impact sent him up into the air, towards the destination cliff.

I grabbed his shirt, so he could pull me, still holding Natalie.

When we landed, thirty seconds or so later, we all crashed into the ground.

We all scattered around, Natalie and Green still unconscious.

I propped her up against a rock, then I went over to Green. I took him, and pinned him under the root of one of those monster sized trees, where he wouldn't move for a while.

Then, I went over, and lied against the other side of the rock Nat was on, and rested...

_To Be Continued_


End file.
